Transport phenomena in correlated quantum liquids

Abstract

Landau Fermi-liquid theory was first introduced by L. D. Landau in the effort of understanding the normal state of Fermi systems, where the application of the concept of elementary excitations to the Fermi systems has proved very fruitful in clarifying the physics of strongly correlated quantum systems at low temperatures. In this thesis, I use Landau Fermi-liquid theory to study the transport phenomena of two different correlated quantum liquids: the strongly interacting ultracold Fermi gases and the ferromagnet/normal metal (F/N) junctions. The detailed work is presented in chapter II and chapter III of this thesis, respectively. Chapter I holds the introductory part and the background knowledge of this thesis. In chapter II, I study the transport properties of a Fermi gas with strong attractive interactions close to the unitary limit. In particular, I compute the transport lifetimes of the Fermi gas due to superfluid fluctuations above the BCS transition temperature Tc. To calculate the transport lifetimes I need the scattering amplitudes. The scattering amplitudes are dominated by the superfluid fluctuations at temperatures just above Tc. The normal scattering amplitudes are calculated from the Landau parameters. These Landau parameters are obtained from the local version of the induced interaction model for computing Landau parameters. I also calculate the leading order finite temperature corrections to the various transport lifetimes. A calculation of the spin diffusion coefficient is presented in comparison to the experimental findings. Upon choosing a proper value of F0a, I am able to present a good match between the theoretical result and the experimental measurement, which indicates the presence of the superfluid fluctuations near Tc. Calculations of the viscosity, the viscosity/entropy ratio and the thermal conductivity are also shown in support of the appearance of the superfluid fluctuations. In chapter III, I study the spin transport in the low temperature regime (often referred to as the precession-dominated regime) between a ferromagnetic Fermi liquid (FFL) and a normal metal metallic Fermi liquid (NFL), also known as the (F/N) junction, which is considered as one of the most basic spintronic devices. In particular, I explore the propagation of spin waves and transport of magnetization through the interface of the F/N junction where nonequilibrium spin polarization is created on the normal metal side of the junction by electrical spin injection. I calculate the probable spin wave modes in the precession-dominated regime on both sides of the junction especially on the NFL side where the system is out of equilibrium. Proper boundary conditions at the interface are introduced to establish the transport of the spin properties through the F/N junction. A possible transmission conduction electron spin resonance (CESR) experiment is suggested on the F/N junction to see if the predicted spin wave modes could indeed propagate through the junction. Potential applications based on this novel spin transport feature of the F/N junction are proposed in the end.